The latest TV spot for "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes" may be short, but it sure makes an impression.
Running just thirty seconds, the ad shows footage of the titular apes invading the remains of a human city, sending the poor human survivors scurrying for their lives. Superimposed over these brief clips is the voice of John F. Kennedy, imparting inspiring words about freedom from his 1962 Independence Day speech.
You have to see the spot for yourself (embedded below), but the effect of such patriotic words married to images of hundreds (if not thousands) of apes sending humans fleeing in terror is profoundly compelling. This all works, despite showing no recognizable stars from the movie.
Early word-of-mouth on the film has been overwhelmingly positive, probably more so than any other blockbuster this summer. On Rotten Tomatoes, "Dawn" is sitting pretty with an impressive 94 percent positive aggregated critic score. A whopping 99 percent of Rotten Tomatoes users have said that they want to see the movie and they're not alone. Read any entertainment news at all, and you'll see "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes" dominating the headlines.
Aside from some robots in disguise and a team of time-traveling mutants, 2014 has had a remarkably anemic summer at the box office. ("Captain America: The Winter Soldier" came out in April, so technically it doesn't count.)
Even other bonafide hits like "Godzilla," "Maleficent" and "Amazing Spider-Man 2" have failed to get anywhere close to the $300 million domestic mark, and many flicks expected to be blockbusters were outright flops. "How to Train Your Dragon 2," "Edge of Tomorrow" and "A Million Ways to Die in the West" all underperformed, even though those first two were critical hits with strong buzz.
"Dawn of the Planet of the Apes" is the sequel to 2011's highly-acclaimed reboot, "Rise of the Planet of the Apes." "Dawn" picks up the story of genetically evolved ape Caesar ten years after the first film, when a growing nation of intelligent apes and a group of Simian Flu survivors are brought to the brink of war.
Though peace seems possible at first, it's too fragile to last, and soon only open conflict will decide Earth's dominant species. Starring Jason Clarke, Gary Oldman, Keri Russell, Kodi Smit-McPhee and Andy Serkis as Caesar, "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes" is directed by Matt Reeves. It hits theaters next Friday.
